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Hayes returning to Royals with one-year deal

Veteran catcher to compete for backup role behind All-Star Perez

9/29/13: Brett Hayes hammers a two-run home run off Jose Quintana, his first of 2013, increasing the Royals' lead in the seventh inning

By Paul Casella
/
MLB.com |

Catcher Brett Hayes will return to the Royals organization for the 2014 season after the two sides avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract Friday. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Hayes, 29, appeared in five games over two stints with Kansas City last season, hitting .278 (5-for-18) with one home run. He spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Omaha, where he hit .233 over 78 games, while ranking second among Pacific Coast League catchers with 17 home runs.

A second-round pick by the Marlins in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Hayes was claimed off waivers by the Royals in November 2012.

Including parts of four big league seasons he spent with the Marlins, Hayes is a career .220 hitter with nine home runs over 148 games.

Hayes is one of three catchers on the Royals' 40-man roster and part of a field of players bidding to back up All-Star Salvador Perez. Besides Hayes, Francisco Pena and non-roster invitees Adam Moore and Ramon Hernandez will compete for that job. Hernandez, a former All-Star for the Reds, signed just this week.